Two Falcons coaches will be on the sidelines at the East West Shrine Bowl

The East West Shrine Bowl is taking place on February 3, and it will bring interesting prospects together for what’s essentially an all-star game and prospect showcase that typically brings NFL scouts out in numbers. This year, a pair of Falcons assistants will be coaching, with Nick Perry handling defensive backs for the West team and Lanier Goethe coaching up the defensive line for the East team.

It’s a cool opportunity for both of these coaches, so I’m excited for both.

Perry joined Atlanta last year after spending four years with Alabama as a graduate assistant and analyst, and he currently is the Falcons assistant defensive backs coach working with secondary coach Jon Hoke. It’s difficult to know how much credit to give Perry for the big leaps forward A.J. Terrell, Jaylinn Hawkins and others took, but certainly he’s earned this opportunity regardless.

Goethe was also hired last year as a defensive assistant after spending three seasons as the linebackers coach at Duke. He’ll likely have plenty of young linebackers and defensive linemen to work with in Atlanta this season, given that the team needs to drastically re-tool its front seven, and hopefully he’ll be working with a gem or two for this game.

The Falcons have mined the game before for talent, adding former practice squad players like defensive end Austin Edwards and defensive tackle Chris Slayton, as well as legitimate contributors like linebacker Mykal Walker. It has also proven to be a showcase game for players like Trey Hendrickson who have gone on to be very good in the league, and hopefully the Falcons coaches will both get a lot out of this experience and get familiar with a couple of future contributors for Atlanta. Congratulations to both!